Miyake debuts new designer in Paris

The debut of Issey Miyake’s new designer tried literally to take flight with a multisegment musical and gravitydefying dance performance.

Acrobatic ballerinas in parachutelike gowns twirled on one foot as they were hoisted up by a gravitydefying cable.

Models on electric skateboards whizzed past front row guests.

And a circle of models danced around holding hands like the figures in Henri Matisse’s 1910 masterpiece “The Dance.”

But the highlight by new designer Satoshi Kondo, one that had guests reaching for their cameras, came as Hula Hoops with stretchmaterial dresses inside descended from the ceiling above three standing models.

A dress slid into place over each model’s head — triggering gasps from spectators.

It was the cue for the models to dance to funky music as the material in their gowns bounced like an accordion or a jackinthebox.

This last segment showed off the house’s famed prowess with techno fabrics.

Yet, Kondo’s colorrich designs as a whole didn’t feel as fresh as the presentation, nor did he really seem to move the house in a new direction.

Still, there were many beautiful ideas in the spring silhouettes.

The first looks, a series of baby powder coats, had layers of material that folded around the body like origami. While, later in the collection, diaphanous brightlycolored anoraks billowed as they filed past like the cape of an Asian warrior at battle.

These specific looks encompassed what the program notes poetically described as the essential “sense of joy that is primitive and instinctive” in wearing clothes.

Francois Mori / Associated Press A model wears a creation as part of the Issey Miyake Ready To Wear SpringSummer 2020 collection Friday, unveiled during fashion week in Paris.